The Dead Girl's Dance

Youre taking orders like a good little neutral, Hans said. Unless you want to lose that status for both you and your partner. This isnt some minor incident. This has the attention of the Elders. If the girls dont cause trouble, theyll come back unharmed, but you stay here.



Gretchen said, No, Hans. Let him come. Itll be good for him to attend.



Hans frowned at her, then shrugged. Fine. But get in the way, Hess, and youre meat.



Gretchen hustled the girls forward.



Whats going on? Eve asked. Neither of the vampires answered. Claire turned her head and saw that Hess was behind them, but somehow, that didnt give her all that much comfort. Gretchen frog-marched them around the corner of a blank-faced brick building, and into



A park.



Claire blinked, surprised, because this was actually verynice. Green grass, big shady trees rustling in the darkness. There were lights, too, strung through the tree branches and shining on flowers and bushes and walking paths.



The area that bordered the park was more alive than anything shed seen yet in Morganville. Where the stores bordering the campus were run-down and dingy, the ones facing the square were shining, polished, beautifully maintained. Beautiful in an old-world kind of way, all stone and marble and pillars. There were gargoyles, too, built onto the roofs as drain spouts.



It looked like pictures Claire had seen of old European towns, onlynicer.



Every business facing the square was open. Two outdoor restaurants were serving, and the smell of roasting meats and fresh bread made Claires mouth water. All shed really had for the day was coffee, and that was long gone.



And then she remembered what Eve had said. If downtown at night was vamptown, why the restaurants?



She knew when they passed close to one of them. There were groups dining, mixed vampire and human; the vampires had plates of food and were eating just as enthusiastically as the humans. You eat! Claire blurted, astonished. Gretchen glanced at her with those cold, alien eyes.



Of course, she said. It provides us no nutrition, but the taste is still attractive. Why? Youll find that poisons will do you no good, if youre searching for a way to kill us.



Claire hadnt even thought that far, actually. She was justweirdly intrigued.



The stores they passed were incredible. Jewelers, with displays of gems and gold. Book dealers carrying ancient volumes as well as new best sellers. Clothing stores, lots of them, with tasteful and expensive styles. It was like a rich neighborhood from a major city, like Dallas or Houston or Austin, had been transplanted directly in.



Weird.



And all the shoppers were vampires. In fact, there were lots of them around, more than Claire had ever imagined lived in Morganville; the more she saw, the more scared she felt. They were staring at her and Eve like the girls were cows on the way to the slaughterhouse, and she felt horribly alone. I want to go home. I swear, if you let me get out of this, Ill move back with Mom and Dad. Ill never leave again.



Gretchen steered them toward a black marble building with gold lettering at the top. ELDERS COUNCIL, it said.



Its okay, Hess said quietly from behind them. Youll be okay, girls. Just cooperate. If they ask questions, tell the truth.



Claire barely felt her feet on the polished black marble steps. It was a little like moving in a dream, helpless and numb, but Gretchens grip on her arm was all too real. And painful. Ouch. Bruises later.



Hans opened the big polished door, and they went inside.



Of all the things Claire expected to see, she somehow hadnt expected a television set, but there one was, tuned to a twenty-four-hour news channel showing flickering pictures of a warbombs exploding, soldiers shooting. And standing in front of it, arms folded, was Oliver. He wasnt wearing his hippie-dippie Coffee Shop Guy clothes; he was wearing a suit, black, tailored, and sharp as a knife. His graying hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and he was wearing a tie. No, not a tie, exactly. Kind of like a scarf, with a diamond pin through it to hold it in place. Maybe it had been fashionable when Oliver was younger.



Some things never change, he said, staring at the television. People continue to kill over the stupidest possible excuses. And they call us monsters.



On the last word, his gaze snapped to Claire, and she shivered. Oliver had nice eyes, but somehow, they scared her even more than Gretchens ice-cold ones. Maybe it was because she still wanted to like him, no matter what hed done. He killed Michael! she reminded herself. Well, hed mostly killed him, anyway.



Hello, Oliver said to her, and nodded. He moved his stare to Eve. Eve. Weve missed you at the shop.



B Eve swallowed what shed been about to say, which Claire was ninety-nine percent sure was Bite me. Thanks. Which for Eve was amazingly cautious. If anybody had been shocked and angry about Oliver turning out vampire, it had been Eve.



Oliver nodded and walked across the large, empty roomempty except for the silently playing television and thick plush maroon carpetand opened a set of double doors. He wasnt the doorman; he walked on through and into the next room. Gretchen pushed Claire and Eve forward. The carpet was squishy soft under Claires feet, and she caught the scent of fading flowers. Roses. Lots of roses.



It hit her full force when they entered the next room, which was a big circular place with burgundy velvet curtains all around, with pillars in between. A low-key chandelier cast a medium-bright glow. Same carpet, but this room had furniture chairs laid out in neat rows, in three sections with aisles between.



It took Claire a second to realize that she was walking into a funeral parlor. When she did, she stopped, and stumbled as Gretchen continued to drag her relentlessly onward, past the rows of empty folding chairs, all the way to the front, where Oliver was standing near another velvet curtain.



Sir, Joe Hess said, coming out from behind Claire and Eve. Im Detective Hess.



Oliver nodded. I know you.



Shouldnt there be others present here for this? The tension in Hesss voice, and his body, warned Claire that Olivers interrogating them on his own was a very bad thing.



There are others present, Detective Hess, said a light, cool voice from the far corner of the room, which Claire could have sworn was empty one second before. She gasped and looked, and there was Amelie, standing there as if shed been carved in stone before the building came up around her. And her bodyguardsor servantswere standing in a group near her. Shed brought four of them. Claire wondered if that was a signal of how much trouble she and Eve were in.



There is a third coming, Amelie said, and settled herself in a chair as if it were a golden throne. She was wearing black, like Oliver, but her attire was a long elegant suede skirt suit, with a severe white shirt under the tailored jacket. She crossed her legs, which were pale and perfect, and folded her hands in her lap.



Oliver wasnt looking happy. Who are we waiting for? he asked.



You know the laws, Oliver, even if you choose to find ways to cheat them, Amelie said. We are waiting for Mr. Morrell.



They didnt have to wait long; in a matter of less than a minute, Claire heard voices coming from the anteroom outside, and a jingle of keys. Shed never seen the man who walked in, flanked by two uniformed cops, but she knew one of the cops: Richard Morrell, Monicas brother. So the portly, balding man with the smug expression was probably her dad.



The mayor of Morganville.



He was dressed in a suit, tooblue, pin-striped, with wide lapels. Kind of pimpish, really, and the pants were a little too long. He had too many rings on his fingers, all in gold, and he was smiling.



Oliver, he said cheerfully. The smile vanished fast when he spotted Amelie sitting so quietly off to the side, with her entourage. His face composed itself into something a whole lot morerespectful. Founder.



Mayor. She nodded to him. Good. We can begin.



Gretchen let go of Claires arm. She winced at the returning flow of blood to her tingling hand, and rubbed at the place where Gretchen had been gripping her. Yeah, that was going to be a bruise. Definitely. She risked a look at Eve, who was doing the same thing. Eve looked dead scared.



Oliver reached over and pulled a hidden cord, and the burgundy velvet curtain behind him opened.



There was a body lying on the marble slab, surrounded by rich red roses, bunches of them in floor vases. The corpse looked blue white, rubbery, and utterly, horribly dead. Claire felt a cloud creep over her, heard a buzzing in her ears, and nearly collapsed, but somehow she managed not to faint.



Oh my God, Eve whispered, and brought both hands to her mouth.



Its Brandon, Claire said, and looked at Oliver. Its Brandon, right? Because that cold, white face didnt look human anymore, and she couldnt match it up to the living personvampireshed feared. The one whod threatened her, chased her home, nearly killed her and Eve



Oliver nodded. He pulled back the velvet covering Brandon from the neck down, revealing black open wounds. Some of them still smoked. Claire caught the smell of cooking meat, and this time, her knees buckled. Detective Hess caught her arm and steadied her.



He was tortured, Oliver said. He sounded neutraldisinterested, even. It took a long time. Someone very much enjoyed this. Almost as if there was apersonal agenda at work.



Mayor Morrell motioned his son forward. Richard wasnt nearly the psycho his sister was. In fact, Claire kind of liked him, as much as she could like anybody from his family who worked for vampires. He seemed almost fair.



Richard examined the wounds in Brandons body. He actually touched them, which made Claire throw up in her head, if not actually through her mouth. Looks like some kind of weapon straight to the heart. Probably a stake, Richard said, and looked up at his father. Whoever did this was serious. This wasnt just random; this was done slowly. I dont know what they wanted out of him, but whatever it was, they probably got it. I can see shadows of wounds that closed over before he died. Thats hours, at least.



Silence. Deep, dark silence. Richard straightened up and glanced at Claire and Eve. If he recognized them, he gave no sign. These two girls have something to do with it?



Perhaps, Oliver said. Claire didnt see him move, but all of a sudden he was right in front of her, looking down. Perhaps they know something. You didnt like Brandon very much, did you, Claire?



I She didnt know what to say. Dont lie, Hess had said. Did the vamps have some kind of lie detector power? Maybe even mind-reading? No, I didnt like him. But I wouldnt want to see this happen to anybody. Not even you. She said that to herself, though.



He had such kind eyes. That was the horrible thing about him, this warm feeling that she could trust him, should trust him, that somehow she was letting him down by not



Dont, Eve said sharply, and pinched her arm. Claire yelped and looked at her. Dont look him in the eye.



Eve, Oliver sighed. Im very disappointed in you. Dont you understand that its my responsibility, as Brandons Patron, to get to the bottom of this? To find the ones responsible? Youre not the innocent Claire may be; you know the penalties for killing one of us. And you know the lengths to which well go to find out the truth. If I can get it from her without pain, dont you want me to do that?



Eve didnt answer. She kept her eyes focused somewhere around the middle of his chest. I think youll do whatever you want, she said grimly. Just like vamps always do. You didnt ask me, but Im glad Brandons dead. And Im glad he suffered, too. However much it was, it wasnt enough.



That was when Nice Oliver vanished. Justgone. Claire saw a flicker of movement, nothing more, and then he had hold of Eves black-dyed hair and he was yanking her head back at a painful angle.



And there was nothing human in his eyes. Unless pure, flaming rage was human.



Oh, he breathed into Eves ear. Thank you for saying that. Now I dont have to be so careful anymore.



Detective Hess stepped forward, fists clenched; Richard Morrell got in his way. Easy, Joe, he said. Its under control.



Didnt look that way to Claire. She was breathing too fast, feeling faint again, and she could see Eves knees buckling. The menace in the roomthe body on the tableit was all just terrifying.



Shanes dad did that. Claire felt sick and even more terrified once she had the thought, because now somehow she had to keep it to herself.



And she knew they were going to ask.



Oliver sniffed at Eves exposed neck. Youve been working at a coffee shop, he said. On campus, I suppose. Funny. I wasnt asked for any references.



Let go, Eve said faintly.



Oh, I cant do that. It makes it harder to hurt you. Oliver smiled, then opened his mouth, and his fangssnake fangs, deadly sharpsnapped down into place. They werent like teeth, really; they were more like polished bone, and they looked strong.



He licked Eves neck, right over the pulse.



Oh God, she whispered. Please dont do that. Please dont let him do that.



Ask the girl a question, Oliver. We dont have time for your hobbies. Mayor Morrell said it in a bored tone, like all of this was keeping him from something more important. He inspected his manicure and buffed his fingernails against his suit jacket. Lets move this train down the track.



Amelie wasnt saying or doing anything.



Im Protected, Eve said. You cant hurt me. She didnt sound very confident, though, and Claire looked at Amelie, sitting in the front row of chairs, studying the scene closely, as if it was all some show put on for her benefit. Her expression was polite, but cool.



Please help, Claire thought. Amelies pale gold eyebrow raised just slightly. Can you hear me?



If she could, Amelie gave no other sign. She simply sat, calm as Buddha.



Lets just say that Amelie and I have an understanding in matters such as this, Oliver said. And Eve, love, that understanding is that I can use any methods to pursue humans who break the peace.



Regardless of Protection. Regardless of who that Protection is from. Now, I think we should have a little talk about your home invaders.



Ourwhat? Eve was struggling not to meet his eyes, but he was so close, it was almost impossible to avoid him. I dont know who they were.



You dont. Youve very sure about that, he said. His voice had dropped to a low, lethal whisper, and Claire tried to think of something to say, something to do, that would help Eve. Because clearly, Eve wasnt going to help herself, and she couldnt just stand by and see herhurt. She couldnt.



I know, she said, and she felt everyone shift their collective attention onto her. Scary. Claire cleared her throat. They were bikers.



Bikers. Oliver let go of Eves hair and turned toward Claire. I see. Youre attempting to distract me with the obvious, and, Claire, that is not a good idea. Not a good idea at all. We know all that, you see. We know when they came to town. We even know who called them.



Claire felt all the blood drain from her head. Her stomach flipped over, and kept flipping, and Oliver walked away from Eve and yanked another cord.



Another curtain slid aside, next to Brandons body.



Two men, on their knees, bound and gagged and held in place by really scary-looking vampires. One of the prisoners was a biker.



Shane was the other.



Claire screamed.